Bruce McCulloch books slideshow Live

The first book he remembers reading as
a kid

"It was called Fox in Socks. My
dad always read me Dr. Seuss books because he thought they were fun and funny,
which they were and are. And I think Fox
in Socks got me into the wacky world of silly language."

by CBC Books

The book that made him feel like
somebody "got" him

"To be a total stereotype, Kerouac really spoke to me when I was about 17 years old. But at least it wasn't
On the Road, it was Lonesome Traveler, which is less about Beat poetry and more just about a guy searching for himself and
trying to find like-minded friends. That's the theme of my own book, in a
way. I felt his bursting and sad spirit."

by CBC Books

The book that taught him the most about
comedy

"Hands down, Woody Allen’s Without
Feathers was the book that most informed my comedy. It's absurdist and wonderful and kind of selfish, the point of
view. It's just short little weird funny stories that have this way of adding
up. I loved it and I know my gang, The Kids in the Hall, did as well."

by CBC Books

The book he recommends the most to
friends

"What I've often recommended is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Pat Hobby Stories, because it’s a
hilarious point of view. It’s a book about dealing with life in Hollywood,
about a guy who's sort of a comedic version of Willy Loman. It's a little
surreal, but sort of a bit real as well. Cautionary and funny."

by CBC Books

The book he's reread the most over the
years

"I've probably read Down and Out in
Paris and London three or four times, which is a lot for a stupid man like
me. It is just so first person. There's something about following Orwell
around, especially when I've had some money in my pocket and he can't afford
cheese. And then, of course, I've been in his shoes too. Not only did he not have money,
but he couldn't admit to other people that he didn't have money, and there’s
probably something to do with my imposter complex that I enjoy it."

by CBC Books

The book that made
its way into The Kids in the Hall

"There's a certain kind of pontifical comedic speechwriting that I do
that's absolutely taken from The Grapes of
Wrath. Tom Joad’s famous "I'll be there" speech—that Studs Terkel
Everyman kind of thing—is something that, over the years, we replicated in The
Kids in the Hall. We’d even refer to it amongst ourselves as'The Grapes of Wrath riff.'"

by CBC Books

The book that got him through a hard
time

"It's embarrassing, but when I broke up with a longtime girlfriend and I
didn't know why I'd done it, I ferociously read every self-help book out there, including The Seat of the Soul.
And I felt like that book kind of lifted me up when I was a snivelling grade 8
girl in my twenties. It made me look inside myself in a way that I hadn't.
Growing up as I did, there was no map for self-reflection. And I think this
book gave me permission to do that. You should read it. It would be really good
for you to read it."

by CBC Books

The book that all young punks should
read

"I loved Bob Mould’s book, See a
Little Light. Bob used to be with Hüsker Dü and Sugar. Maybe in a way because
he's a contemporary, he's my age, and had some success in his career but he's
not exactly U2. The book’s essentially about him trying to figure his life out.
He kept making the same mistakes, came out of the closet in his thirties—it was
all imperfect, and he just kept going. This book is in the line of what my book
hopes to be."